Pretty Is Not Enough

Pretty is not enough.... So the new Bare Escentuals commercial got me thinking. The slogan says “Pretty is what you are, Beauty is what you do with it.” I was curious about that statement and captured by it. I asked the Lord why? It sounds weird and like its telling people that who they are isn’t enough. So then I researched the slogan and the company. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/business/media/for-bare-escentuals-pretty-isnt-good-enough.html?pagewanted=all That’s the link I read. It tells of how they picked the models for the campaign, not on what they looked like but on personality based questions the models had to answer. The company never even saw the models they picked until they were getting ready to shoot the campaign ads.They wanted to make sure they had role models not just models. One they picked was a volunteer firefighter and another was a mother of three who played basketball and rode a motorcyle. They wanted real women who did real things. They also did not retouch the models. They left in every wrinkle and imperfection that might be seen as bad, but because it spoke of their life lived, they called it beauty. ” “We can all be pretty, but beauty is an action,” said Leslie Blodgett, the executive chairman of Bare Escentuals. “Hopefully it’s a rally cry for ‘Don’t just be pretty and sit there and get your picture taken and do nothing.’ ” And this got me thinking about the Kingdom of God. God made us special people, he gifted us and we are his sons and daughters. We ARE. But most of us sit around and do nothing. We sit in our churches and listen but then go home unchanged. We blame everyone else for why nothing radical is happening but we don’t realize that it is up to us to live radically to see radical things. So I’m encouraged. A son or daughter is what we are. But we must do something with it. We must put it into action, we must live it out. I don’t think Bare Escentuals intended to cause that kind of thinking but I know I thank God for that little nugget of truth at the most random time.

By the word of their testimony

So here are a couple of testimonies I had to write about Tour this year and the trip to Costa Rica. Later when I have more time I shall write more about my experience in MCs this year and try to include the bigger lessons I've learned along with the few mentioned in the following paragraphs. Enjoy~


"Last year during tour I had to deal with my knees going out on me and I learned how to let the Lord pull me into him and use his strength. This year going into tour I had 12 pinched nerves. I couldn’t understand why the Lord was letting this happen to me again right before tour. But through all the confusion and hurt, I once again relied on the Lord. His grace on me knows no bounds and I believe he took me to a different level of relying upon him. There is no way I did any amount of dancing of my own accord. Every move I made happened because of Christ living in me and having grace on my body. Through the pain and tears I was able to see the Lord’s hand in everything. Lives were touched through the dances and I can’t take any of the credit which is how it should be. Because of this, ALL of the Glory had to go to the Lord. There was no saving any of it for myself, I couldn’t claim anything. It was cool to see that people were responding to the God in me, instead of just a cool move I’d learned to do.

Costa Rica was a different experience than tour in drastically different ways and I cannot really compare the two and do justice to either. I still had pain but had learned to push past it with the Grace of God. It was easier to allow myself to be swallowed by His Grace in order to move which left me able to focus more on people. And they were desperate. The people of Costa Rica left such an impression on me that I felt convicted. Here these people were, running to the Lord for any type of prayer they could get. Several people on several occasions had no complaint or purpose for asking for prayer other than the soul reason of seeking an encounter with God. Do we do that here in America? I know I don’t. Normally it takes a moving of the Lord to get me to go up for prayer…or for that matter, it takes someone coming and getting me! How I want to be that desperate! To be a sponge that will soak up any drop of water someone decides to let drip. They were truly precious and I know the Lord had encounters with those people. How do I know? Because they were desperate for one and kept seeking until they got it."

AHHH! Are you for real???

WOAH. Today we leave for Costa Rica! I still can't believe it. I'm up and packed and got passport in hand (so to speak) but I still don't believe it. Someone pinch me! It seems like we just got back from tour and now we are off again on one of the greatest adventures of our life. Lord, I know you will provide a great outpouring of your anointing and spirit.

I'm excited...really excited. A little nervous. I'm kinda lacking in the Spanish department, though I have to admit Jessica Camenisch is a great teacher and I've learned loads in one week. I'll be staying with host homes that don't really know english. Talk about out of comfort zone. But it will be great because I have to totally depend on the Lord. Jesus hold me cause I'm freaking out...in a good way.

Ariana and Moises...here we come!

By the Word of the Lord...

We will demolish every evil thought that tells us we are worthless. We shout and proclaim that in Jesus Christ we are priceless- we do matter in this world.
(2 Cor 10:5)

We declare the tearing down of the false idols Baal and Asherah. No longer will we give our children as sacrifices to Molech.

We are crying out for those whose voices are being silenced. There is hope for the unborn and it shall not be cut off.
(Prov 23:18 & Prov 31:8)

The womb is intended for God's creative action of life, not man's destructive action of death.

We are ambassadors of Reconciliation and declare that Love is long suffering. So be strong, be brave and don't give up for those whose hope is in the Lord shall be given renewed strength.

(3-18-11)

Untitled and Unfinished

Glass warped, a house of fun.
Lack of sun cast shadows bright.
And all I see is me
With no chance of the Great Light.
Looking into the glass,
Mostly dark are the days.
And it hurts the most because
What I desire isn't holding my gaze.
Blue eyes stained black cast cold glances.
And when I dare-
When I take the chance...
Death entreats me as I stare.

So my sight shifts and
for a moment I'm fine.
My eyes briefly glimpse
of the Man so Divine.
Too quickly He fades
Back to the glass my eyes fall
Anger rises.
This is not what I want at all.
So I take a deeper look
locking my resolve
determined to take stock
of the problems I need to solve

A smile that's cracked
spilling forth lies and deceit
Eyes that judge
looking down on the weak
Ears that push
the mute button too often
clogged with whispers
of He who's Fallen
Disgust brims over
into salf flavored twin rivers
My anger shakes me
and my reflection looking at me shivers

It's then I realize
I'm holding the glass tightly
my hands bound to the frame
white knuckles not budging slightly.
In shock I convulse in agony.
A deep-retching groan
starting and resounding
from somewhere within my very bone.
"This is not what I want!"
I yell-falling to my knees.
"Remove what is before me!"
I gasp for clean air to breathe.
A scream rips through my throat.
I slam the glass into the floor.
Over and over, repeatedly, once more.
Til my knuckles are bloody and sore.
Still my hands do not let go.
In despair, I sit and cry.
Droplets fall off my chin, splashing on broken glass.
I can't do this, I realize.

Then calloused, warm hands cover mine
Gently they release my pain-removing my grasp
from the broken frame.
The same hands cup my face
and a soothing voice calls me by name.
I'm free from the power of the mirror.
In my gratitude I glance
to the face of my savior.
"What can I do for you?"
I ask, thinking of a song or dance.

A gentle smile.
A soft chuckle.
His arms wrap around me
cradling me close to him.
"Sit with me and just Be."

A word Picture

1-9-11



Sitting on a hill waiting, being still but by no means doing nothing. I am silent, my soul is quiet, my spirit actively listening, waiting, resting on God.

The wind begins to move. I feel my hair rustle at its presence. The grass surrounding me tickles my legs. Birds chirp and sing their song to the Father who created them-who takes care of them.

The warmth of the sun kisses my skin-tenderly caressing my face.

I sit. I wait. I am still.

The wind picks up and I can hear it whistling in my ears. My hair delights in a dance around my face, stray stand ticking the back of my neck and cheeks. Contrasting with the warmth of the sun, the wind takes con a colder feel, briskly brushing my skin.

Slowly the sun's embrace lessens as the wind wins its cold battle. Clouds close over the sky, covering the earth in a dark blanket.I am separated from the sun's warm rays and the center stage now belongs to the wind as it makes its voice heard loud and howling. My hair no longer enjoying a lazy dance but now thrashing around me quite violently. The brisk chill of the stinging rush of wind has my skin rising in goose bumps.

Off in the distance rumbling growls of thunder speaks to the howling wind, forming a conversation of a bitter, threatening kind. My spine stiffens at the approach of a storm and my soul urges me to move from my spot on the hillside.

I sit. I wait. I am still.

I strengthen my will, for my spirit is calm and remains wanting to listen to His voice.

My head jerks slightly with surprise as a cold droplet of rain splashes against my cheek. I take a deep breath deciding I really should move. A whisper cuts through the screeching wind--wait, be still...remain.

I steel my resolve, not understanding but willing to obey. My mind screams against the soft whispers as my spirit clings to the reassuring softness. My eyes close tighter and my spirit rises above my soul. I wait.

Droplets fall faster now, harder against my skin. My clothes are slowly soaking--the wet cold chilling down to my bones.

My body shivers, my soul screams, but my spirit remains still.

Thunder begins to drown out even the beating of my heart. Lightening cracks and I jump at the harsh sound. The wind rushing against me makes it harder to sit still now. My hair that once danced in the air now sticks lifeless to my head, dripping water onto the rest of me. the ground beneath me gets softer and I can feel myself sink a little into the mud. I'm thoroughly soaked and the wind is buffeting against me. Rain drops feel like small pin pricks now as the cold is determined to beat into me.

My body shivers, my soul screams, my spirit stays still.

And then I hear a song. Its soft, barely audible as it is carried on the howling of the wind. But I can feel the melody deep inside as it finds me. It grows louder- a steady build against the roaring of wind and thunder. Lightening strikes and my eyes jerk wide open. Scorched earth smells off to my side and my heart stills. But the song regains my focus as I realize I'm singing the melody. The song is within me and bursting forth being carried by the wind. Soon the rain slows down and I feel the clouds break.

The sun greets my face as a long friend who has returned to me. Off in the distant sky color catches my eye and I see a rainbow. It's faint but beautiful none the less. The wind has slowed and the rain has stopped. I watch the rainbow, grateful for its faint whisper of beauty. Do my eyes deceive me though or are the colors getting brighter? Maybe my eyes are adjusting...no the rainbow is growing in size--its getting closer. The colors are becoming more solid the closer the get to me. My breathing speeds and becomes shallow as the rainbow moves closer to me. Its rushing me now and my body braces for a crash.

The colors collide with me and break apart. Its a symphony or colors moving around me each having its own song or melody, some singing a harmony as they dance around me. I can feel them pass through me even as well as see them move in elegant grace around my body. Laughter bubbles from within me and pours out of my mouth as this glorious display of affection envelopes me with His joy and His life. I feel a healing presence and a comfort that I had not before. The wind is now gently dancing around me, helping the warmth of the sun dry me out.

My spirit rejoices. It was still and was rewarded. The storm passed and did not harm me, yet I did not have to lift a finger to save myself. I did not strive. I did not trust in my own soulish whispers but remained in the voice of my spirit. I waited through the storm and was presented with a presence of God like I have never known. A precious gift to me given by my Father, the Creator.

My soul screamed, demanding to be heard. Had I listened I would have missed it all.

My Spirit was still and in the waiting I saw the Glory of God.